The fly sat upon the axel-tree of the chariot-wheel and said, What a dust do I raise!
- The Fly on the Wheel, Aesop's Fables
We live in interesting times. As I’ve shifted most of my energies to the school board, the blog has suffered but the school board has taken a new direction. The Matawan-Aberdeen School District now takes guidance from the school board, as it always should have, and the school board is providing that guidance.
This year’s top four blog pieces are, appropriately, a scandal that rocked the town, my election, and the tragic passing of two our youngest and finest, Daniel Cleary and Jawann Brown. Still, traffic is certainly down from the days I investigated the school district and township. That’s fine by me. Readership was always a means to an end, not an end in itself. The blog averages over 5,000 visits a month and has an estimated 5% penetration rate, more than any other local news outlet excluding the Independent and APP.
Ms. Hayward and I had a campaign slogan, “A break from the past,” and this school board has certainly done that. The political lines have disappeared. Ms. Hayward and I have never been together in the minority. Nor have Ms. Rubino and her running mate, Mr. Ruprecht, ever voted together in the minority. Nor have two Matawan representatives ever been in the minority.
Equally important, much of the tension is gone and board meetings are often lighthearted despite the serious issues before us. We laugh and joke, something I had never seen at prior board meetings. We work well together.
My mother always taught me to reach for the sky but settle for the moon and that’s been my experience on the school board.
At the end of July, I listed three goals I had brought to the board. The first was to hold board members accountable, the second to ensure graduates were college-ready, and the third to hold the line on tax increases. Here’s what we got – Split votes are recorded as such in the minutes so people can quickly research how board members voted on “controversial” issues. The board has effectively endorsed the recommendations of the college readiness committee. And the board has set a goal of limiting tax increases to 2% or below.
Writing skills, another board goal, is now being stressed across grade levels and courses. The board has also adopted an objective measure for school performance.
As for my crusade against the “cheap and easy” online degrees, the administration has agreed to request sample coursework from applicants for salary adjustments to determine the degrees were actually “earned”. (Work will be reviewed for verification purposes, not for quality.) One word of warning, though – If any instructor is currently enrolled in one of the “cheap and easy” online schools, be sure to complete your degree and request your salary adjustment before a new contract is adopted. As the board attorney said at the last meeting, there’s no guarantee these degrees will be recognized in the new labor contract.
The technology department is laying the groundwork for providing parents the necessary tools and information to become full partners in their children’s education. That same foundation can later be used for massive data mining to determine the factors for success and failure..
The board voted unanimously against funding collaboration pairs. Dr. Delaney has fought against “paying teachers for speaking to each other” and this practice has been terminated.
We finally have a mission statement that actually holds the district accountable for results. We’re also rewriting and posting all our board policies. When I objected to enacting policies that were already covered by law, Mr. O’Connell argued we needed the policies as an easy reference for the public so they could hold us accountable. He’s right and I’m glad the board followed his lead.
After two years of complaining and millions of dollars later, we got preliminary results from the RTI program; they weren’t good and I doubt it will survive next year’s budget cuts.
Performance goals have still not been established for the superintendent but he and the administration will surely be held accountable for meeting the board goals. I would prefer a mathematical guide but it’s very unlikely the board would ever use one. I have a draft formula for my personal use and I still plan to publish it once the board goals have been finalized.
Next on my list are curriculum reviews and developing additional streams of revenue.
All in all, I’m pleased. Like the fly on the wheel, I can’t claim any great accomplishments but I’m enjoying the ride and I’m grateful to Aberdeen for the opportunity to serve. >>> Read more!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
End-Year Review
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Happy Holidays
According to tradition, biblical Adam was born on a Friday afternoon on the first day of the Jewish New Year. He was expelled from the Garden of Eden that same day.
As the sun began to set, Adam feared he was witnessing the end of the world on account he and Eve had sinned. God reassured Adam that not only was the world not coming to an end but the sunset would mark the beginning of a new day, the holiest day of the year, the Sabbath.
Over the following weeks, Adam noticed the days were getting consistently shorter. As winter approached, Adam again feared he was witnessing the end of the world. Once again, God reassured Adam that not only was this not the end of the world but this period would become a time for festivities and light for all generations. Hence, people throughout the world celebrate this time of year.
May this coming year be filled with good tidings and joy. May our community be blessed by the Holy One, blessed is He.
Happy holidays and best wishes for a wonderful new year. >>> Read more!
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Democrats’ Latest Campaign Filings
Click here for the latest Democratic election filings
Stung by repeated charges of pay-to-play, the Aberdeen Democratic candidates decided they would still take the money but hide it from public view. Rather than run one campaign as they had in the past, they decided to run four individual campaigns and then ask each donor to write four checks, each for $300 or less to avoid disclosure laws. If the donor wished to give more, he could donate to the Aberdeen Democratic Executive Committee. My understanding is that none of the candidates took a leading role in fundraising but they all knew what was happening; they took tens of thousands of dollars from the very people seeking to get millions from us, the taxpayers. In private industry, this is called graft. In the courtroom, it’s called bribes. Among our councilmen and mayor-elect, it’s called politics.
I raise the issue again because we now have the latest election filings with the NJ ELEC and some new items have come to light. Total campaign expenditures for the democrats were about $50,000, in line with historical norms. However, the problem here is that Councilman-Elect Lauro raised virtually the identical amount as the other candidates.
Initial filings suggested he had not taken money from the town engineer, CME, since that would have been a clear conflict with his duties as the public works director. (A government employee should not be taking money from the very companies he’s overseeing.) More recent filings strongly suggest Lauro did take money from CME while working as the public works director. I can’t prove it but he raised nearly identical amounts as the other candidates and we know the others were taking money from CME so it’s a reasonable assumption.
Since the candidates chose to skirt the issue of pay-to-play, the other unanswered question is who did contribute to their campaigns aside from the usual suspects? Well, we know one person who did because he asked for his money back. Good old Joe Kremer. You know Joe, right? According to the Dem filings, he lives at 26 New Brunswick Ave. You know, corner property on Charles St.?
What’s that you say? It’s a warehouse? Now, what would old Joe be doing living in a warehouse? Huh? You never heard of old Joe? That is strange. Well, obviously he’s someone who cares a great deal about our town because he donated $300 to each of the candidates. Yup, $300. That is the absolute highest amount that any person could possibly give to a local candidate and still remain anonymous. He must be a good guy to want to remain anonymous and all.
I’m sorry, what’s that you’re saying about the warehouse? It’s owned by SPH Holdings? Nope, never heard of them. They want to get a variance from the township? Nope, didn’t know that either. And they’re on the tax sale list for not paying their water on time?
Well, no wonder Joe asked for his money back.
Yup, good old Joe. Thanks to guys like him, the Dems got four more years. >>> Read more!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Go Huskies!
Congratulations to the Huskies on winning the state championship at the NJSIAA Central Group II title game on Friday, crushing Manasquan 28-12.
Thanks to Coach Martucci and all the coaches for leading our team to victory.
A big cheer for all the community support. 350 students rode school buses to the game. Over 2,000 people attended to support our team. A victory parade is planned for Sunday afternoon.
For game highlights, you can check the APP's coverage or watch some video at AberdeenNJlife.
Below is a list of our football champs. Congratulations again. Name Agosto, Rich Allison, Jared Alvarez, Jim Antwon, Brian Bartlett, Justin Beaty, Keith Bellamy, Juwaan Carter, Ian Castell, Joel Cleary, Tom Clinton, Kendal Crombie, Bill Davis, Austin Durantt, Marcos Faccas, John Garland, Derek Garner, Shakier Gleason, Sean Gray, Dion Green, Mike Gumbs, Malik Hagan, Kareem Hodge, Andre Incle, Dave Inguaggiato, Brandon Lazar, Andrew Liebowitz, David Maamouny, Ahmed Malta, Michael Masonius, Albert Morenz, Matt Neal, Greg Newsom, Aaron Nicholson, Deaven Palumbo, Francis Quaglieri, Anthony Rafferty, Sean Reyes, Dillon Richmond, Andrew Rocco, Nick Rodriquez, Terry Santana, Justus Santimauro, Ken Short, John Simpkins, Solomon Slay, Ted Smith, Jon Smith, Tyrone Underwood, MacArthur Urciuoli, Joe Vega, Zeke Walton, Chris West, Brandon Wilkins, Tim Williams, Cassius
>>> Read more!
Friday, December 4, 2009
A Modest Proposal Redux
“I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children. . .
I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. I have no children by which I can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past child-bearing.” – A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift (1729)
Political satire, demonstrating the fallacy of logic absent principle, is surely a lost art but one that, even employed imperfectly, still has its uses.
To my readers’ credit, it didn’t take long until someone who wasn’t an incorrigible critic recognized the title of my prior post was a reference to the most renowned political satire, Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”. Nor did it take long to recognize the essay was contrary to my declaration of support for the new mission and vision statements. Granted, nobody noticed that it also conflicted with my statement at the prior week’s board meeting that “I believe no student should be forced to sit in a classroom with an unfit teacher” but hardly anybody watches those board meetings, anyways.
So, let’s first demolish the underlying logic behind the article and then consider some of the responses.
The notion that a student who’s withdrawn from an extra-help tutorial has forfeited his right to an education is ludicrous. As for the idea that we should assign our lowest performing teachers to our lowest performing students, that had been a quiet practice in the district that Dr. O’Malley terminated. For example, Kimberly Rogers, one of our finest teachers, is the instructor for AP English and SRA Prep Language Arts (for those who failed the HSPA). Simply put, every child is entitled to an excellent teacher unless he forfeits that right by stealing another child’s opportunity to learn or stops coming to school.
The assumption that a significant percentage of high school juniors will always fail the HSPA is false. The middle school made dramatic improvements and I expect those improvements to grow. The high school has been making long overdue changes to the curriculum, such as making writing a core element of a student’s education. With better prepared students and an improved curriculum, our test scores will rise, as they must.
As for the comments, some of them were absolutely delicious. The outrage, shock, and horror that we would assign unfit teachers to our neediest students. Yet, many of these same commenters maintain the administration should be barred from removing unfit teachers from the classroom, thereby subjecting our students to the very outrage, shock, and horror they abhor. The only difference between their plan and my satire is they would assign these unfit teachers randomly so that every child has the same chance of being robbed of an opportunity to learn.
At least, for the first time, my critics have finally conceded our district does have unfit teachers. Only a handful, to be sure, but we do have them and no child should be forced to accept them as an instructor. I propose every parent have the right, at the beginning of the school year, to transfer his child to another class if he is unhappy with the instructor.
Still what do we do about the 20% of juniors who withdrew from the lunch tutorials? First, shame on them and their parents from withdrawing the program. Shame on them! I don’t know what the administration plans but I would suggest the following:
Lastly, I concede the teachers are dealing with a far more difficult teaching environment than I imagined. I was wrong. Assuming that the parents of the junior class are representative of the community, 20% of parents and young adults don’t care about education. Horrific. Just horrific. But it changes nothing. For the 80% of us who do care, our mission remains the same - to provide a safe and supportive environment where educators inspire, empower, and encourage students to excel. >>> Read more!